


A Breath of Life

by FiddlesandRiddles



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 13:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3731323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiddlesandRiddles/pseuds/FiddlesandRiddles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Voldemort took the time to plan ahead, he was a descendant of Slytherin. Slytherins do nothing better than to work in the shadows, to use their cunning to succeed. So after surviving the fateful Halloween night in 1981, he goes into hiding and plans a future where nothing will stop him from taking Britain as his own. Eventual HPLV. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Lily Potter fell to the floor, never to breathe again. Voldemort strode forwards to the child in the cot, feeling with utter certainty that victory was his at last: the child of prophecy would die, and not even Albus Dumbledore could stop him.

Harry Potter didn't seem to be as impressive an opponent as he'd heard, but then, the boy was probably not toilet trained yet. Eyes, green like those of his mother, filled with tears as the dark lord approached. The man hushed the child and smiled cruelly, reaching out to pat the child's cheek to calm him before he'd cast the curse.

As his hand connected to the skin of the boy though, he felt a sting of pain, a rush of ancient magic pushing him away from the baby. Voldemort frowned, reaching out with his magic instead to test it, he glanced at the woman on the floor, wondering if this was sacrificial magic at work or otherwise - Did the muggleborn even know of such magic? Not even Dumbledore would dare to employ something labelled as dark as that.

Not having time to examine the boy as the Order of the Phoenix had likely been alerted to his presence by now, Voldemort stood back from the Potter boy. He was ready to protect himself if things went wrong, and cast the killing curse without remorse towards young Harry. The curse rebounded almost instantly and only the dark lord's reflexes allowed him to evade certain peril.

The curse hit the walls behind him and the man cursed as the structure of the house began to crumble, the destructive magic that had been intended for him now destroying the house instead to fulfil it's purpose.

With a last glance at the unconscious child, Voldemort frowned at the lightning bolt wound bleeding openly on Harry's forehead, it looked almost like the rune of the sun. Feeling that the rune was a sign of the prophecy and having little time to do anything about it, the dark lord simply apparated away, leaving barely a trace of his presence and the feeling of foreboding he was experiencing.

Things had just become more complicated than he'd wanted.

~

Voldemort did not call his followers to him, nor did he allow anyone to know he had survived the attack on the Potter family, he waited in the shadows to see how society would react and planned accordingly.

He observed as the wizarding world hailed a baby the saviour of the light and proclaimed him dead, he noticed how the Potter's best friend was incarcerated and Pettigrew faked his death. He marvelled at how they had decided the war was over so quickly without even his body left to burn, he laughed at how Dumbledore sensed the magic which had destroyed the house and believed that he too had turned to dust.

With anger, he saw his death eaters captured - some freely pleading their allegiance to him, others, like Lucius Malfoy, slithering away like the two-faced snakes that they were. Those with money greased the necessary palms to stay far from Azkaban.

He was surprised to see that even Severus Snape, his trusted Potions Master, managed to get Dumbledore to vouch for him at the man's trial, and suspected that Snape was more than just a double spy. He would have to watch him closely when the time came to reveal that he lived still.

Then, Voldemort saw how the baby Potter received barely a medical exam from Hogwarts' healer before Dumbledore dropped him at a muggle's home in Surrey, and he let it happen, new plans beginning to take hold in his mind.

~

In the first few years of the little Potter's life, Voldemort travelled and gathered more knowledge outside of Britain, he learned that Dumbledore believed he had gone to extraordinary lengths to protect himself from death, but suspected the use of horcruxes rather than any other method.

Gleeful, and knowing that Dumbledore thought him predictable, Voldemort created false horcruxes, imbued with dark magic to destroy the life force of anyone who sought them, and went to Japan to seek an old acquaintance with knowledge of time magic. He went back to periods in his life, surreptitiously placing seeds of suspicion and doubt in Dumbledore's mind and placing the fake horcruxes in locations that had some relevance to important events in his life.

The beauty of time magic was that you couldn't really change anything when you went back to the past, magic would intervene if you were to do something that could alter the course of time. For example, if you tried to kill your grandfather, and even thought yourself to succeed, a "miracle" would occur – he would survive through all odds, or turn out to have a twin who had taken his place, or the man might even have horcruxes. Therefore the man would live, and go on to marry and have children with your grandmother, eventually resulting in the birth of the person who would go back in time to try to kill him.

With that understanding, it was simple enough when Voldemort returned to his own time to check on several missions, like that of the deceased Regulus Black. The dark lord had required his elf to hide a Slytherin heirloom which would grant any parseltongue speaker the chance to talk to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin himself.

Yet, he knew that Regulus had taken it thinking it to be more when he went to the cave and discovered that the locket was gone, replaced by a fake. Voldemort knew then that it was not only Dumbledore who suspected his use of horcruxes and left the fake locket in place.

The Slytherin locket could not be destroyed by any means except parselmagic, and no speaker would do so. He found it easily at the ancestral black home, noticing how the home was starting to fall to ruin, and replaced Slytherin's locket with a fake horcrux.

~

When Harry was nearly eight, Voldemort was astounded at how similar and dissimilar the two of them were.

When Voldemort had been hurt by others, he had reacted by hurting the tormentors more, and established himself as strongest and cruellest in the orphanage. When Harry was hurt, he tried harder to please his tormentors and get through it. He stood straighter, he grit his teeth and carried on, or if in danger, the boy would run. Sometimes the boy's accidental magic would save him, but the child seemed almost blissfully unaware of magic in general.

It was almost pathetic to see his supposed enemy so weak, but... there was something about the boy. It wasn't often, but he'd see a spark in the boy, a line of sarcasm, a flash of anger across his face – it was enough to know that the boy wasn't broken, and enough for Voldemort to deem him worthy enough to interfere with.

The year previous, Voldemort had carried out rituals to cleanse himself of the effects of dark magic, his mind was clear, his body strong and young, his magic untainted and powerful.

He didn't look like the insane dark lord that everyone had thought himself to be, if anything, only Dumbledore and his first followers would recognise him. He was pale, his eyes were not crimson as was his trademark, but a dark blue, he even had a modest head of hair. He preferred it this way, it meant he didn't have to move in the shadows any longer, and the boy was less likely to be afraid when he approached him.

So, when Harry's family left him on the doorstep of a locked house in the blistering sun while they went out for the day, with orders to weed the garden and then to go straight to Mrs Figg's, Voldemort smiled.

It was time.


	2. Chapter Two

The sun burned almost unbearably down on Harry, his neck stung with the combination of sweat and sunburn, he stank from the exertion of weeding not only the back garden, but the front as well. If he was lucky, Aunt Petunia might permit him ten minutes in the bathroom to clean up when they got home... eventually.

He didn't really want to go to Mrs Figg's house afterwards, he'd rather go to the park and sit under a large tree in the shade for several hours rather than that. She'd feed him stale food and make him look at her albums of photos of cats again. He'd seen more than enough of them last time.

It must have been just after midday when the stranger approached him.

Tall, with a walk that he'd never seen anyone else do – almost graceful, more like the way a tiger moved towards it's prey than anything else – The man was confident obviously, and he should have just walked past Harry like everyone else did, but he didn't.

The stranger sat on the edge of the wall near where he was working, casting a shadow that Harry was instantly grateful for as the sun's glare was taken away. A brief respite, and no one could fault him for looking up at the man who had given it.

"Hello there." The man said, he had a deep voice, and he spoke rather softly, as if he'd never had to raise his voice before. Harry had no doubt that people listened to this man when he spoke, like a particularly strict and fair headteacher.

"Hi." Harry replied, feeling a little nervous, "I'm Harry."

"Nice to meet you Harry, my name is Marvolo, how are you?"

"I've never met anyone with that name before," Harry commented, then realised he sounded a little rude and hurried on, "It's a nice name! Anyway, I'm okay, just doing the garden for my Aunt and Uncle."

"That's very kind of you Harry, spending your holiday helping your Uncle and Aunt, I'm sure your parents are quite proud of you." The man told him, offering a small smile.

Harry sighed at hearing that, a clash of feelings inside him warred on – disappointment at the reckless nature that had caused his parent's death, and happiness at the idea his parents might be proud of him.

"What's wrong, little one?" Marvolo asked him as Harry offered no further comment.

"My parents... well, they're gone. I never knew them, they died in a car crash when I was very young. I've been living here ever since then." Harry explained with a heavy heart.

"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, I'm sure they were wonderful people. Do you know their names? I might have known them." Marvolo offered.

"Erm..." Harry panicked, trying to remember, his guardians never spoke much of them, and he couldn't recall their names.

"What's wrong?" Marvolo asked as Harry grew more upset.

"I... I don't know, I mean, I don't know their names, I'm not allowed to ask about them." Harry stuttered out, sitting back on the grass despondently, his hands in his lap.

"That's terrible! What's your last name? I can look them up for you and let you know." Marvolo promised, smiling encouragingly at the boy.

"You mean it? Well, my last name is Potter. I'm Harry James Potter." Harry told him, a small smile growing on his lips.

"Harry Potter? I knew your parents, James and Lily Potter, they were good people. Head boy and girl at school, you know." Marvolo told him.

Harry scrambled to his feet, brushing off the dirt on his baggy clothes, he looked at the man in amazement and wonder.

"Were they really? I thought they were both alcoholics, irresponsible on the road and too lazy to even bother with normal jobs? That's what Uncle Vernon said, how could they have been head boy and girl if they were like that?" Harry asked, tumultuous in tone and actions, he paced back and forth, waving his hands around in confusion.

"Calm down Harry," Marvolo chuckled, "I can tell you more about them if you'd like. I don't know about a car crash or alcoholic tendencies, but they were good people I assure you. Although... They were misled by a man shortly before their deaths, from what I heard, they were killed, and not while in a car. Would you like to come with me?"

Harry nearly fell down at that revelation and the offer, he stumbled and stopped pacing, looking with suspicion at the man now, not daring to believe that he meant it. Uncle Vernon had taught him that no good for nothings like him didn't simply get to have nice things. Marvolo had to be joking.

"Do you mean it?" Harry demanded to know, "Can I really come with you?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" Marvolo asked in return, beckoning Harry closer, "Yes, I do mean it, you can come with me, and I can tell you all that I know of your parents. I can show you pictures even, and you'll never have to come back here. You only have to say yes."

"I..." Harry hesitated, "Why should I trust you?"

"What did your guardians tell you of magic?" Marvolo asked out of the blue, startling Harry.

"It's not real, it's an abomination to speak of it." Harry recited.

"They lied to you." Marvolo revealed, drawing on an inner power of some sort, he reached his hand out toward the garden and the rest of the weeds pulled themselves out, flying to the pile Harry had made.

Harry gasped and took a step back from the man.

"Have you ever done anything that seemed odd? Something that no one could explain?" Marvolo pushed, making Harry think.

Running from Dudley and ending up on the school roof... turning the teacher's hair blue... all the times his hair had grown back overnight despite Aunt Petunia's best efforts...

Harry's eyes grew wide with comprehension and he looked at the man in sudden understanding.

"I'm a..." Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry, you are a wizard. You don't belong here with those who don't have magic, they'll never understand." Marvolo explained.

"So... I can really come with you?"

"Yes Harry, if that is what you want."

"Then I want to, I don't want to be with the Dursley's any more, it never really felt like a home anyway." Harry proclaimed.

A sudden rush of wind ran over Harry, and Marvolo suddenly stood, offering Harry his hand.

"If you are sure, then take my hand, we have to go now." He told him.

Harry nodded, looking a little windswept, and hesitated only for a second before he took the man's hand.

The two disappeared from Privet Drive, leaving only a pile of weeds behind as evidence that they had been there at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the second chapter. All from Harry's perspective, the next one will probably be from Voldemort's perspective again. In case you were confused, the rush of wind was the breaking of the wards around number 4, Voldemort could access Harry because he had no ill intent, and when he sensed the breaking of the wards, he was eager to go to avoid Dumbledore.
> 
> If there's anything else that's confusing that I missed, let me know in a review :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> ~FiddlesandRiddles


	3. Chapter Three

The two appeared out of nowhere at the top of a grassy hill, a short way from a tall, imposing gate.

Voldemort grasped Harry's hand firmly, pleased at the success of his mission. He took a moment to check on his young charge, noticing how the boy gasped for breath.

"Are you okay? That was a form of magical travel known as apparating. It can be difficult for people to get used to." He offered, waiting until the boy was steady before leading the way towards the gate.

Harry just nodded and moved when Voldemort started walking, he didn't say anything, but he looked pale. Now that there were no muggles to see, and he need not be overzealous in his efforts to impress the child, Voldemort took out his wand. He moved the wand in a swift arc, adding Harry to the wards.

Harry seemed to sense that something had changed and looked to him in question, Voldemort remained impassive and continued in his stride. They reached the gates and Voldemort kept walking, going straight through them without pause. Harry had stopped short on the other side.

"Marvolo?" He asked, "How did you do that?"

"The gates only keep out those I don't want to enter, you can come in too, just step through them." Voldemort explained, amused at the confusion of the child.

Harry hesitated for a long moment, reaching his hand through the gate first, his eyebrows raising high as he passed through the solid looking gate as easily as smoke.

"Wow!" Harry whispered as he walked through fully.

Then he looked up away from his hands and saw the large building that had been obscured previously. The manor house obviously had more than two or three floors, it looked to have maybe five – not including any basements or dungeons.

Voldemort had grown bored of Harry's amazement and walked up to the door of the house already.

"Are you coming or not, little one?" He called out behind him, and Harry jogged to catch up.

"There are many rooms in this house, as I'm sure you've realised, any that you shouldn't be in will be locked, do not attempt to open them. There is a library, a kitchen, several studies and drawing rooms, a ballroom and more. Bedrooms are on the third floor, you may choose one to stay in. Would you like some lunch?" Voldemort told the boy, already leading him to the kitchen anyway.

"Er.. Sure." Harry stated, trying to take everything in, "wait, bedrooms? I get to stay in my own bedroom?"

"Of course, where else would you sleep and keep your things?" Voldemort replied, knowing already where Harry had slept before.

The child blushed and said no more, following him more meekly than before.

"The kitchen is ran by creatures called house elves, they will get you anything you ask and usually can be found cleaning also. You may not use any kitchen appliances, as they run specifically off of house elf magic and I don't want any incidents. Understand?" Voldemort continued his lecture.

"I think so..."

"Good, after we eat you may choose your room, and when you have settled in, I'll give you a tour of the house. We can discuss your parents tomorrow." Voldemort finished.

"Yes sir." Harry agreed.

"Oh, and Harry?" Voldemort stopped and turned to the young Potter, pleased at how compliant he was, "I'm glad to have you here."

He placed his hand briefly on Harry's shoulder and the boy lit up with happiness. Voldemort withdrew his hand and continued walking.

Dumbledore had been a fool to leave the boy so unprotected, if he didn't already, then before long the boy's allegiance would be his.

~

Harry was surprised almost perpetually, first the gate, then the house, then the house elves!

He hadn't been sure what to expect of an elf, but the creatures in their little uniforms with the snake crest hadn't been anything close to what he'd imagined. When they had entered, all had stopped what they were doing to ask what he and Marvolo wanted.

When Harry had been unsure, Marvolo had ordered first, a light salad and a selection of cheeses. Harry had thought that Marvolo had made a very responsible choice, so asked for the same, and the two of them had sat in the opulent dining room.

The chairs had actually been a little too high for Harry, his legs dangled several inches away from the floor after he had scrambled up onto it, but he relished in being able to swing his legs a bit. Aunt Petunia had only let him sit on a stool with his plate on his lap, though on special occasions he was allowed to sit at the table. Their table hadn't been as high or well decorated as this one though.

The dishes were cleaner than Harry's best efforts, and the food wasn't too much for him to handle, Marvolo hadn't laughed or scorned him when he had tried the different cheeses and found some of them too strong. Instead, he had been offered some water and a few red grapes to get rid of the taste.

Marvolo led the way to the third floor when they were both done, and Harry held back a snide comment about how Dudley could do with walking up and down these stairs every day. Clearly "Harry Hunting" hadn't been enough exercise for him at school anyway.

"Time for you to choose your room Harry." Marvolo announced with a friendly smile and an encouraging pat on the back.

Harry looked at the hallway of doors curiously, stepping forwards to peer into the first one.

"Oh, and don't worry, the master bedroom is on another floor, all of these are free, and there's a small bathroom attached to each." Marvolo informed him.

Harry judged the first one too large for him to stay in, somewhat shocked that he had a choice of these wonderful rooms at all. The second one was decorated in a very floral taste, and again was quite large for a boy who had only lived in a cupboard thus far.

It wasn't until they reached the last room that Harry found a room which seemed to call to him. It was the smallest of all five rooms, and the décor was simple: dark greens, reds and blue. The bed was only a single, with a modest headboard, there were a few bookshelves and a desk. What Harry liked best though, was that the window was large, and the window sill was wide enough for two of him to sit side by side. There was a view of the grounds all the way to the gate and beyond to a little village in the distance.

"This one," Harry said simply, "I like this one the best, can I stay here?"

"Of course," Marvolo didn't seem surprised at his choice and smiled, "Would you like me to go so you can settle in, maybe shower and freshen up before your tour?"

"I would like that, thank you."

"No problem, Harry. Oh, and I asked one of the house elves to fetch some new clothes for you before we came up here, just some simple wizarding robes, trousers, shirts and underwear. You don't mind do you?" Marvolo asked, clasping his hands together, "I thought you'd rather have wizard wear than a muggle's."

"That... Marvolo, thank you! That's so kind!" Harry didn't know what to do, so taken aback at the man's kindness, he wanted to hug him as he had seen children hug their parents, but wasn't sure how it would be received, so he stood there overwhelmed with gratitude.

"It's okay Harry, I'll see you in about an hour in the entrance hall?" Marvolo said softly.

Harry nodded, and then Marvolo left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

A moment later, Harry went to the bathroom to shower, unaware of just how easily he was playing in to his new guardian's plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter! I know these are a little short, but I'm trying to upload frequently to make up for it. I have exams in a little over a month, so I doubt I'll be able to get many chapters out then. However, I'll do my best :)
> 
> Let me know if you're liking the story so far, and what I could do better in a review?
> 
> ~FiddlesandRiddles

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is the first chapter, it's a bit fast, the writing could be better, but I'm eager to get into this plot line.
> 
> Let me know what you think, constructive criticism is more than welcome :)
> 
> ~Fiddles and Riddles


End file.
